Next Up: PARIS 2024! The TOKYO 2020 Games Have Officially Come to an End...

Earlier today, the closing ceremony for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games was held at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo...with the baton passed to the city that will host the Games of the 33rd Olympiad in 2024: Paris.

As an American, this year's Olympic Games were very memorable. From Simone Biles and her gymnastics teammate Suni Lee inspiring the nation with Olympic medals and Biles putting the spotlight on mental health, runner Allyson Felix winning her eleventh medal to break the tie with track and field legend Carl Lewis, Katie Ledecky winning two gold and two silver medals in swimming, the U.S. men's basketball team winning its fourth consecutive gold medal since the 2008 Beijing Games, the U.S. women's basketball team winning its seventh consecutive gold medal since the 1996 Atlanta Games, to the U.S. women's volleyball team winning the gold medal that helped the United States surpass China on this year's medals list (view it at the bottom of this entry), the 2020 Games did not disappoint.

I'm absolutely excited for the Paris Games! The first reason being that I just enjoy watching the best athletes on this planet doing amazing and seemingly-impossible feats on the global stage every two years (I'm including both the Summer and Winter Games; the 2022 Winter Games will be in Beijing), and the second reason being that I've never been to France and I can't wait to see NBC's coverage of competitions that will no doubt be held in different regions around the country.

And of course, I'm gonna be even more stoked for the 2028 Games—which take place here in Southern California!

While the majority of games will obviously take place in and around metropolitan Los Angeles, some competitions—specifically mountain biking events—will probably be conducted in San Dimas, which is less than a 10-minute drive down the 71 and 57 Freeways from me (in the city of Pomona, which is 31 miles from L.A.)!

I should definitely check out a few of the competitions when the 2028 Summer Games arrive in the City of Angels. Happy Sunday!

The Tokyo closing ceremony will re-air on NBC at 5:00 PM, Pacific Daylight Time (8:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time).